Grants Awarded to Develop Qualified Spec. Ed. Teachers

The Department of Education has awarded $11.6 million to 59 colleges and universities to help develop highly qualified teachers for students in special education.

The grants, which were announced Oct. 5, average $196,500 and will be provided to institutions in 25 states and the District of Columbia. They will also be used to train specialists in early intervention and other services for students with disabilities. Individual projects will last as long as 48 months.

Among the project awards are $200,000 to Hunter College of the City University of New York for a program to train teachers of students with severe disabilities; $200,000 to Florida State University in Tallahassee for a program to train teachers for blind students; and $194,743 for the University of Illinois-Chicago to train bilingual special education teachers.